Friday, September 08, 2006

Before any big showdown in college football, fans can expect tons of hyperbole and hype. But Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has added "miscommunication" to this week's clash between his "top ranked" Buckeye squad and the "#2 ranked" Texas Longhorns.

During his weekly media luncheon, when talking about his USA TODAY Coaches' Poll ballot, Tressel told reporters, "(Texas is) the defending champions, I've got them ranked No. 1 on our ballot because I think they deserve that. I think they deserve that top to bottom. I think they deserve that from a program standpoint."

Sounds nice, eh? Only one problem: it's not true.

According to USA TODAY itself, Tressel's official ballot on record with them shows he did not vote for the Longhorns as No. 1. He had Ohio State at #1 and Texas at #2.

"USA TODAY's policy is that when a vote is made public and the paper knows it to be inaccurate, then USA TODAY, in its oversight role as administrator of the poll, will set the record straight to protect the integrity of the poll," said Jim Welch, deputy managing editor for sports.

Oops.

ESPN.com reported that Stan Jefferson, Ohio State's director of player development, called in Tressel's ballot Tuesday morning. He said he changed the ballot and did not have time to tell Tressel. He called the incident a "miscommunication."

"When it came time to vote on the preseason poll, we voted Texas No. 1 and us No. 3 after talking about it as a staff," Jefferson told The (Mansfield Ohio) News Journal. "When I called in his poll [Tuesday morning], he did not tell me to put Ohio State No. 1. I put that down because we were No. 1 in the preseason poll that came out. I did not have time to get with him today before the press conference. It was an honest mistake on our part."

Riiiight. This guy just took it upon himself to change the head coach's ballot. Uh huh.

But later, an Ohio State media relations director announced that this check was not out of the ordinary, and had been done for all visiting teams.

When Michigan looked into that, Wisconsin, Penn State and Indiana (who visited Columbus that year), all said they didn’t face anything like this when they entered the stadium.

At the time, Carr said about the apparent discrepancy, “What really is interesting is that they would say that with all these other schools it’s been the same all year long when it hasn’t. There is an issue of credibility here.”

And that's what this latest "miscommunication" is all about: credibility.

You know, before that 2004 game, Carr and Tressel spoke on the field as head coaches often do. During that conversation, the "security check" came up.

“(Tressel) asked me if we got in okay, and how was everything going,” Carr said. “I said, ‘Well, as a matter of fact, they just had your dogs out there searching our bags, Jim. I don’t know what the hell that was all about.’

66 comments:

I agree Yost - the dog search thing still pisses me off. It was absolutely classless and reflects on the integrity of that program and those who run it. If that kind of thing happens again, I strongly urge Carr to tell the officers that they can either stand down the dogs or he will turn the bus around and leave the officers to explain to 110,000 Buckeye fans (not to mention ABC and the Big Ten) why there won't be a game - THE game - today.

I do have to laugh at USA Today for worrying about the integrity of their precious poll. How a poll of people who don't watch any games because they are busy coaching their own teams all day can be taken seriously to begin with, I don't get.

Does Tressel being underhanded actually suprise anyone anymore? This guy suspended a starter for Miami of Ohio for accepting illegal benifits. Then his starting lineman gets a DUI and doesnt miss a single snap. Tressel is as classless as they come, no matter what the blind mice in Ohio think about him.

Tell you what - get Llllloyd to tell you all the teams in his weekly ballot, see if they match up to his lackey's submission, and then come back and bitch about Tressel. And - two years hence - whining about dogs? If indeed it actually happened.

Maybe I got a LITTLE carried away...I'm just tired of all the bitching. Still, answer me this: is it at all possible that Carr et.al. were just SLIGHTLY exaggerating the intensity of the search they underwent? Does anyone - a bystander, a journalist, a player w/ a cell phone - have a picture of bags being searched/sniffed?

Further: Wouldn't that seem to be the perfect fulcrum upon which to lever a group of proud young men to a level of pissed-off-ness that would make it nigh impossible for them to lose? - that is, if the leader of said young men was any kind of a motivator?

Finally, to reiterate what I've said in this space before: It's disappointing. So much of what goes on here is of such high quality that whiny bitchiness of the highest whiny-bitch order is pitiful. If you believe you're superior, then act like it and stop nipping at heels.

The party line this morning on the local news is that Tressel isn't a Liar. He just can't manage his employees. The statement made was that the offensive coordinator placed the vote. According to the offensive coordinator " They have more important things to do than worry about the vote". Obviously he chose to go against his boss's wishes and cast the vote as he saw fit. Another alarming fact is that the employee in question sports a Buckstache!

back in the '80's, i had a friend who was a huge 'Canes fan. to his credit, he never bothered to deny that Johnson/Ericsson/et al skirted the rules and recruited thugs. when the ND crowd whined about "catholics vs. convicts", he'd just point to the scoreboard and say "so what?"

there was always a "Godfather" like air of warped "honesty" to his lack of apology. they were cheating, everyone knew it, and he didn't care as long as they won. hard to argue w/ him.

tosu fans generally lack that. they want the "w's", are willing to tolerate anything to get them, but at the same time want to pretend there's nothing go on.

it's the total denial in the face of overwelming evidence that's so irritating. bring up the arrest records and they'll try to tell you tosu hasn't had any more kids in court than anyone else. all you can do is wonder if they're that bad at math w/ everything else. it's like listening to one of those loony/evil holocaust deniers (scaled down to football, mind you). they're wrong, maybe nuts, and you know that no amount of fact is going to get them to see the truth, let alone admit.

It seems to me that you're implying that a couple of dogs sniffing your bags threw you so off your games that you lost to OSU? Are you serious? Somehow I don't think bomb sniffing dogs cost you that game. Maybe, just maybe, it was decided on the field.

As for the poll data Tressel said the poll was one way, it turned out to be another. Mistakes happen. Just like I'm sure Carr was telling the truth when he talked about his role in getting that one eyed ref fired.

By the way, over half the posts on the front page of this blog right now focus on teams other than Michigan. I'd love to see a 500 word post on why your WR's can't seem to catch easy passes or why Michigan almost always loses a nonconference game early, often a game they shouldn't be losing.

But honestly, I love the blog. I'd just like to see more Michigan posts. I want to know my enemy. And so far all I know about Michigan fans is they're snarky, think all OSU fans are rednecks, and can't handle the fact that the Michigan mystique isn't really there right now.

Hey surrounded in c-bus. Since when is saying you voted for someone in a different spot than you actually did cheating? Did I miss the NCAA bylaw that says when you say you voted a guy #1 you actually need to have voted him #1? Is this "cheating" probation worthy? Should I be worried about the death penalty? Tell me voting-gate isn't Clarret part 2!? I've got enough to worry about with the Texas game! Don't scare me like this!

This is just another example of Jim Tressel cultivating his image as a humble, honest, saintly football coach. Every time there's some sort of mistake or transgression, he pleads ignorance and feigns concern. It's so obviously a phony image because it sure hasn't carried over onto his teams or his fanbase.

And it's so unnecessary. Steve Spurrier doesn't pretend to be Ned Flanders. He doesn't pretend to respect opposing coaches or players if he doesn't. Part of his appeal is that he is so transparent and you know you'll get a good smart ass comment from him. It's not so much that Tressel is obviously willing to cut corners to win, it's that he pretends to be so damned pious.

It's not like there's anything wrong with voting your own team as number one, just fucking say so, "Yeah, I voted us number one, I think we're the best team in the country and a lot of other people agree with me." It's no big deal. Tressel thinks that but can't come out at and say it in public.

And I'm not buying the ignorance argument. This man is the head coach of one the best college football programs in the country. He's won a mythical national championship. He has an office that would make a dictator jealous. He's clawed his way to the top of his profession. He knows EVERYTHING that's going on around him, if he didn't he wouldn't be where he's at.

I love how posts like this bring out all the tOSU trolls. Nothing to do but troll Michigan blogs all day long.

No, nobody claims that the bomb-sniffing dogs cost Michigan the 2004 game. It's about credibility and integrity, and there's a pattern of lies and deception emanating from Columbus.

Is this whining? Sour grapes? Maybe. Its a Michigan blog and yes, cheatypants sweatervest has had our number for a few years now. But frankly, Yost & co. can post whatever they want to. The critics and trolls should either shut up or not read MZone if their tender little egos can't handle it. Better yet, they should start their own blogs. All they need is a computer and a little talent. Probably asking a lot of them however, as its far easier to criticize than create.

So let me get this straight. This nobody in Tosu's AD knew they had Texas #1 in their previous ballot, but because the preseason polls had Ohio St. #1, this guy figured they must know something his staff was missing? That's a great way to poll teams--base it on how everybody else thinks.

Seriously though I think it's true what many people are saying - that this blog has become the Anything But Michigan blog. No stories on the Wolverines, just jokes about their rivals (and any other school that someone on the street finds an article about and emails this blog to tell them about it). It's like Skip Bayless and Drew Sharp took over for Yost and Benny.

As far as anon #1 comments, does he hold Carr to the same standard for having Marlin Jackson miss 2 series against a MAC opponent after smashing a bottle in someone's face? The kid was pressured to drop the charges but never changed his story - in fact he subsequently sued Jackson after suffering long term effects.

First of all, to all the Buckeyes who feel a need to point out "all the non-Michigan stuff" on this site each time they're upset over something: get used to it. Read the text under the logo -- our goal to do all things Michigan AND college football. Not just Michigan football. I know the "M" in the title throws you off. Who knows, maybe we'll even change the name of the site someday so your heads don't explode trying to graple with this fact.

And I had to laugh when someone commented asking why we don't cover, oh, Michigan's receivers dropping passes. Well, for starters, you can get such info elsewhere. More importantly, if one hopes to expand their site, folks won't keep coming back for such dry stuff. That's not what we do.

Furthermore, take a look at the two main Detroit papers, the News and the Free Press. On any given day either of those hometown papers, with their paid, professional staffs, only have one or two articles on Michigan football. And that's during the season. Why? Because sometimes there just isn't that much interesting stuff to talk about.

Now, I know that may come as a shock to Ohio State fans where the Columbus Dispatch comes up with 10 Buckeye articles a day and their Buckeye Extra has an icon in the corner keeping track of whole long it's been since M beat Tosu in Columbus. But, frankly, we enjoy covering a wide mix of topics. Sure lately it seems like there has been a lot of Buckeye stuff but when your coach shades the truth about this poll, the former RB who is the only reason you won a National Title gets arrested for the umpteenth time with 5 guns in his car, when players live in plastic bubbles, well, hard to pass that up. When other schools do such things, we'll be on that, too. But right now, Tosu is in a league of its own.

Finally, back to the post at hand, read over OSU comments here -- they all ignore the issue raised, instead trying to add "but I bet Lloyd lied" about this or that. Or I bet Michigan blah, blah, blah.

Typical.

When Texas fans said Ohio State fans treated them like shit last year (so much so that the President of your University apologized), did Ohio State fans line up in apology themselves? Ha! The comments I saw around the blogoshpere and on this site were of the "it happens everywhere" variety.

There is no "issue" to ignore. It's probably one of the more blown out of proportion things I've ever seen honestly. Whether he voted that way or not, honestly, who cares? Did Carr lie about getting that ref fired? Who cares? You guys and the media can continue to try to make it an issue, but a week from now, no one's gonna care (although i guarantee your blog and readers will reference it for the next 3 years)

Yost,they also miss that there is a LOT of michigan football discussed here. your(& Benny's) post on saturday/sunday/tuesday focused on reactions to the game, analysis of the play, and discussion about the areas of improvement. did these idiots miss those? the dozens of comments about the new defense? zone blocking, and yes, the dropped passes?

what blog are they reading?

the fact that by Wed/Thursday you/us have moved on to other topics, too, doesn't mean M football isn't discussed. it's just not the only topic discussed.

and that's the reason you see so many tosu trolls. ever try to read tosu blogs? seriously, how many times over how many days can you post analysis after redundant analysis of htc ted ginn jr/htc troy smith/fill in the name here/ game peformance against NIU before you get flippin' bored w/ it?

tosu sites (and i'll admit i'm generalizing) all say the same thing over and over again- tre$$el's a genius, ____ is going to win the heisman, our offense is great, our defense is great, we're going to beat ____. the same, self aggrandizing, reassuring, slap on the back, strutting crap, ad nauseum.

this is a great site. it talks a lot about football. a whole lot about michigan football. and a fair amount about humorous, related topics. that it doesn't run lamarr woodley's saturday performance/sack stats into the ground for 7 days afterwards IS NOT a short coming.

BTW- srduff's citing marlin jackson's arrest/suspension-- that's "1". you come up w/ another 20-25 michigan arrests in the last 5 years and you'll have us close to even w/ tosu. or are you bad at math, too?

ummm Charles Woodson took a free suit from his agent while still a UM player under Carr - does that make Carr a cheater? NO. Is Stoops a cheater because of Bomar? NO. To say that a player took money/suit/etc from a booster/agent makes the COACH a cheater is ignorant and pretty damn stupid IMO.

Clarett never played after he took the money. SIC sounds like he could be a domer with his incessant whining and running fast and loose with the facts.

WGAF about a poll in week 2? This is a great blog, that is as great a read as there is online. On a par with EDSBS. As an OSU fan, I enjoy the sniping because its what we used to do when Cooper couldn't win. I know deep down, everybody at the MZONE is proud of the rivalry between 2 great schools.

BTW, I've been treated great and shitty in A2 and didn't bitch about a few assholes that I ran across to the press. Most (99%) UT fans were treated well and some have expressed it, but the few that weren't have a louder voice. Holbrook is an idiot, glad she's leaving, won't be missed.

Keep up the good work Yost & Benny, I only root against you when you play us.

I like all the posts that show up in our anti-OSU threads complaining about our "bitching" and "whining."

What do you nincompoops expect? We're a UM football blog. Here's a newsflash: WE DON'T LIKE OSU. So we pick on them when we can, just like OSU blogs pick on us, just like Texas blogs pick on OU...I know, what a revolutionary concept in sports fandom.

You people (who coincidentally always seem to be OSU fans [whine whine whine {that's called a double parenthetical, for you grammar challenged Buckeyes out there}]) are either incomprehensibly stupid or just have incomprehensibly stupid expectations. If you saw a bunch of UM fans at a tailgate in Columbus, would you expect them (before you threw your full beer cans at them and raped their pets) to be handing out lollipops to OSU fans? No? Well cyberspace is no different.

You're right. If folks take a quick scroll down our main page one would see a ton of Michigan material (and not all of it positive, mind you. Like the thing on the forward pass and my take on the Vandy game).

However, I could have all Michigan stuff and one Tosu article and I'd probably still be getting the same comments today.

And I don't see many comments here on the positive stuff about OSU posted. I was very impressed w/ OSU on the field last weekend. I even wrote as such in my most "Is the grass greener in Columbus." We also moved them up in our blogpoll. I could go on but I'm guessing folks won't be surprised to hear that those posts get very few comments. And such posts NEVER EVER any "why the hell is there all this positive stuff about OSU on a Michigan site." Apparently, if I posted Jim Tressel is a god all day here, that wouldn't be a problem for a Michigan site.

Also, to make the same point as before in a slightly different way, when USC players were getting in trouble seemingly every other day over the summer, we put up, seemingly, a USC post each day. When the LSU sign controversy was raging, we put up a lot of stuff about that.

Like it or not, even OSU fans have to admit they have been in the news (not MZone news) a lot lately (Buckeye cereal anyone?). Throw in hatchets, lint rollers and Grey Goose and a "miscommunication" here and there with their coach before the huge game this weekend and what are we supposed to do? Talk about Steve Breaston dropping another pass or the CMU game?

And please know, as you can tell by all the times we've poked fun at our own team, if we start making news off the field like this, you'll hear about it here, too.

Finally, I love Buckeyes reading the site. Really do. I'm not one of those "don't read it because it's Michigan" guys. But, I am one of those "don't be surprised if you don't like what you read" Michigan guys. I'm a Michigan fan. This site will be biased as such. And OSU is our biggest rival where, truth be told, I've had some less than pleasent experiences in terms of my treatment in Columbus on the NUMEROUS times I've been their for The Game. And before you comment "it's the same in A2," I'm just sharing my own experience which will, for better or worse, color what you read here.

ok, here's some feminine 'whining' for all the tOSU weenies out there....Tressel's vote, or lack thereof, is about integrity, boysINTEGRITY:"adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty." dictionary.com

the "confusion" and "misunderstanding" around Tressel's vote is part of a PATTERN of half-truths and misbehavior (along with that nasty smell) emanating from Columbus and tOSU's athletic dept overall (see tOSU men's b-ball as well). It's one more episode to add to the list of bizarre actions and behaviors associated with the athletic dept and it's minion in C-bus. Face it. Tressel and his merry band of scarlet wearing buckstaches sporting yahoos are sketchy. period. if ya wear a sweater vest like Mr. Rogers, then act like him!

as for this blog?if I wanted to read espn.com I'd go there. if I wanted to read insider info I'd go to the wolverine...but I don't, for some reason I wanna shoot the shit with other Maize and Blue Faithful and be clever with Yost and Benny. Either your withus or agin'us

Harry Hasselhoff is a moron. I hope some of your fans are smarter than he is.

I would love to see Carr turn his bus around and forfeit the game like the whiny loser he is. That would be his last game as coach of UM, regardless of his reasons.

The POLICE stopped the bus. Jim Tressel wasn't standing there directing traffic. Commands get miscommunicated. Should the UofM bus been stopped? NO. Was the bus stopped? Yes. Did it effect the game? NO.

Hey man, great blog you've got here. I'm trying to do a bit of the same only from a Purdue perspective and not as well (the product of falling short of expectations I know) Good luck in the Big Ten this year!

Te$$el admitted to having a detailed conversation, w/ Clarett, in the middle of the '02 season, about the Lexus he was driving. he turned a blind eye and never followed up. willfully looking in the other direction is as guilty as purposefully committing the act itself.

clarett was taking improper gifts/cash from the day he walked on campus. he never played after the news was released in the papers. not quite the same.

also, another anon listed 5 michigan players w/ criminal charges over the last 5 years. that approximately 20-25% of tosu's total. only another 20 or so more to go. keep looking and get back to us. until then, keep using the old buckeye math to tell yourself "it's like this everywhere".

finally, to all tosu fans who have been so offended by anti-tosu content on Mzone blog (kudos to King for the observation), did you ever ask yourself why you care so much about what we think/say? "you own us", "we're whiney bitches", "we're losers" is your standard mantra, right? how come that doesn't end it for you there? why do you feel so compelled to get on here and (srduff- this is irony) whine about our whining?

maybe winning dirty really isn't as satisfying as you thought it would be? at the end of the day, the "w" doesn't really make up for the lost respect, lack of prestige. maybe mom was right- cheaters never prosper in the end, do they?

My lord, people in Buckeye Nation should be used to this daily ribbing on OSU by the MZone.

But in other news....Me and my friends came to a startling realization last Saturday and we can admit, as Buckeye fans, that Tressel has not been honest about. Ready.....TRESSEL WEARS A TOUPE! That's right, Jim Tressel wears a wig. C'mon its totally obvious. Why else do you think his hair stays totally perfect ALL the time. And don't tell me hairspray either.

Tressel knows what was going on. After the arrests of Deerborn, Mich. natives for purchasing trac cell phones for terrorist activities in the news, I don't blame him. After all, blowing up the 'shoe would destroy this country

Guys, you're missing the point. The OSU folks don't read the rest of the blog (at least not without getting a full quarter's worth of independent study for it). They come here, browse selectively for reasons to be pissed off, and then stoke that "FUCK MICHIGAN!" fire fire for another couple of days.

For all their protests, if you didn't exist, they'd have to invent you.

Tressel is just like Colonel Jessup from "A Few Good Men", the top guy in charge who conveniently doesn't have control if something goes wrong.

It took some digging, but I finally obtained a transcript of the Carr-Tressel conversation before the kickoff of their game on 11/20/2004:

Carr: Jim, a moment ago you said that you ordered the AD not to send drug-sniffing dogs to the Michigan bus. Tressel: That's right. Carr: And the AD was clear on what you wanted? Tressel: Crystal. Carr: Any chance the AD ignored the order? Tressel: Ignored the order? Carr: Any chance he forgot about it? Tressel: No. Carr: Any chance the AD left your office and said, 'The old man is wrong'? Tressel: No. Carr: When the AD spoke to security, and ordered them not to send drug-sniffing dogs on the bus, any chance they ignored him? Tressel: You ever coached at Tosu, son? Carr: No, sir. Tressel: Ever sang the “O-H-I-O” fight song? Carr: No, sir. Tressel: Ever put your buckeyes in another man's hands: asked him to put his buckeyes in yours? Carr: No, sir. Tressel: We follow orders, son. We follow orders, or the team loses; it's that simple. Are we clear? Carr: Yes, sir. Tressel: [nearly shouting] Are we clear? Carr: The AD ordered the dogs on the bus, didn't he? Because that's what you told the AD to do.Tressel: You want answers?Carr: I think I'm entitled to them. Tressel: You want answers?! Carr: I want the truth. Tressel: You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has rivalries. And those rivalries have to be provoked by pulling ridiculous, low class stunts. Who's gonna do it? You? Barry Alvarez? Joe Paterno? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: That putting dogs on a college football bus, while tragic, probably saved the win. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves games.

You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on the sidelines. You need me there

We use words like grade fixing, illegal booster contributions, disorderly conduct...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use 'em as a punchline.

I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very coaching brilliance I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it. I'd prefer you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a playbook from the 21st century and start winning. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to.

Carr: Did you order the dogs on the bus?Tessel: I did the job you sent me to do.Carr: Did you order the dogs on the bus?Tressel: You're goddamn right I did. (A curious look from the ref, and then the game begins.)

Last word (at least from me, and at least in THIS thread) about y'all's whining about Senator Tressel: You all so obviously want, desire, wish, NEED so bad for your "Cheatypants" meme to be true that wisps of smoke are magically transformed in your minds into the Chicago fire...that makes the recent inferiority of your football program somehow acceptable. You've convinced yourself that it's ALL true - just one example is this truly crazy idea that Tressel somehow ordered a law enforcement agency to search UM's bags as a form of gamesmanship...are we talking about a football coach here or the Trilateral Commission?(It's been a long time since Psych 101 for me, but all this is normal and to be expected)Finally: Nobody I know went batshit like this on you guys during the Cooper years, and those were much slimier days than these for OSU. Still, all during the 2-10-1, we bitched about how could we lose all these Michigan games with all this talent (sound familiar?); not about how those effing Wolverines must, must, MUST be cheating.

I doesn't matter where Tressel voted - he and his boys have a Texas sized ass-whippin' coming to 'em down here in The Lone Star State regardless if he thinks UT is #1 or #2. But to show him and his cronies what true champions are made of, we'll take them out afterwards for some good Texas BBQ, some cold beer and then send them on their way back to Columbus.

I don't think any Michigan fan is saying that the dog search cost Michigan the game. The dog search is one of the all time classless moves made by any instituition EVER. As a citizen of OHIO you should be completely ashamed. There is absolutly no place for that type of behavior by any civil society - period.

"The dog search is one of the all time classless moves made by any instituition EVER. As a citizen of OHIO you should be completely ashamed. There is absolutly no place for that type of behavior by any civil society - period."

yeah, you're right. the reichstag fire, the beer hall putch, the rape of nanking; all these events pale in the face of a one hour mandatory dog search. may God forgive us.

Let me enlighten the blowhard buckeye who states, "Marlin Jackson hit a kid with a beer bottle." FYI, that was never proven to be true. Yes bucknut, not true. If you knew the entire story i.e., Jackson underwent a lie detector test (Carr would've booted Jackson off the team had a bottle been used per Carr)--then perhaps you wouldn't spout off gibberish half-truths.

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